Workshop

Renewable Energy and Innovation towards Sustainable Energy for All

Milano, Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, via San
Vittore 21
June 17, 2015

Access to modern energy can be defined as (a) access to electricity and/or (b) a clean
and efficient way of cooking food and heating the home, i.e. overcoming the systematic
reliance on traditional biomass (wood, charcoal, animal dung) and the traditional,
inefficient way of burning it without protection, with the effect of producing indoor
pollution and causing serious diseases.
There is wide consensus on the objective of eliminating the twin gaps and reaching a
world access to modern energy. The UN initiative Sustainable Energy for All sets
2030 as the target year.
Yet, the forecasts reported in the International Energy Agency publications indicate that
the present gaps will both persist by 2030.
What may make the difference between success and failure
In the construction of scenarios, two variables are crucial.
One is the development of the generation of energy from renewable sources. Such
development is desirable for well-known reasons, primarily linked to environmental
preservation; yet it is also decisive in the policies to enlarge access to electricity and to
clean fuels for cooking and heating.
The oldest renewable source is hydro power. Important reserves exist in Africa, Asia and
Latin America, and part of these can be exploited without damage for the environment.
Besides the few very large investment projects, many small and very small projects can
feed local networks or mini-grids to serve communities.
Electricity can be generated by the new renewable sources, solar and wind, which are
particularly apt to bring electricity to communities dispersed in large areas, where minigrids or even off-grid isolated generation is the most economic solution.
The potential contribution of these sources to the objective of SE4A is large. In fact,
approximately three quarters of the world population without access to electricity live
in areas where development of the grids is not foreseen.
Renewable sources such as biomass are largely available to produce thermal energy for
domestic and business uses. Here the challenge lies in the search for clean and efficient
ways to transform biomasses into useful energy.
The other variable is the development of technology. There are two areas where
technology is progressing fast and with a significant impact on the availability of energy
in remote areas, beyond generation from renewable sources: (a) storage of electricity,
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(b) smart grids that can combine intermittent generation from solar and wind sources
with flexible generation from various sources, storage devices and flexible demand.

DRAFT PROGRAMME
14h00 Arrival and Registration
14h30 Welcome
Pippo Ranci, WAME president
Roberto Ridolfi, Director for Sustainable Growth and Development, EUROPEAID
Giampaolo Cantini, Italian Foreign Ministry, D.G. for Development Cooperation
15h00 Keynote speech
Innovation and Sustainable Energy for All
Claude Henry, IDDRI Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University New York
First Session: Renewable Energy
15h20 Electric systems and the growth of renewable generation
J. Ignacio Prez-Arriaga, MIT Cambridge MA. and Comillas University Madrid
15h35 The future of renewable energy
Salvatore Vinci, IRENA (tbc)
15h50 The challenge of implementation:
Riccardo Amoroso, Director for Innovation and Sustainability, Enel Green Power
Elena Casolari, ACRA-CCS ONG and Alliance for Rural Electrification
Second Session: Innovation
16h30 Technical advances in generation from renewables
Chris Case, Chief Technology Officer, Oxford PV
16h45 Starting from the Bottom of the Pyramid
Shyama Ramani, Professorial Fellow at UNU-MERIT (United Nations University) and
Maastricht University
17h00 The challenge of implementation:
Representative of one NGO
17h15 Closing remarks
Fiorenzo Galli, director, Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia, Milano